Singapore's TidbiTs

One of the 17 fresh-water reservoirs in Singapore, Bedok Reservoir was a former sand quarry that collects rainwater runoff from the eastern part of Singapore. The reservoir and surrounding area have been turned into a recreational park where other than admiring the views from the boardwalk or floating deck, you can also fish, do kayaking or simply enjoy the walk around the reservoir, admire ants' hills, Tiger Orchids, the largest orchid in the world and appreciate the reunification of Germany with a segment of a Berlin walls right here in the park. Bedok Reservoir is located in the eastern part of Singapore, close to Bedok North and Tampines West so especially great for those living in these housing estates. Bedok Reservoir is also linked to other parks in the eastern corridor such as Pasir Ris Park and Tampines Eco Park via the Park Connector Network or PCN so you can cycle or walk between parks. Nature is bountiful in Bedok Reservoir Park. As you enter you will be greeted with...

Bukit Batok Nature Park is known as the Guilin of Singapore, Little Guilin or Xiao Guilin as it is called by locals here, it resembles the much bigger Guilin Mountains in China. Well, perhaps a little, though it is just a part of it. Bukit Batok Nature Park is a respite for those living in the western part of Singapore. It is not to the extreme west like Jurong Lake Gardens but is actually quite close to the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve to the east and there is a 1.8 km (1.1 miles) park connector network walking path linking between the two as they are both part of the 36km coast-to-coast trail. Some may combine Bukit Timah with Bukit Batok. Bukit Batok literally means 'coughing hill'. 'Bukit' is 'hill' and 'batok' is cough. Jurong Lake Gardens is the start point or the ending point of the coast-to-coast trail, depending on if you start from it or from Coney Island . The distance between Jurong Lake Gardens to Bukit Batok Nature Park is 7.3km (4.5 miles...

Fort Canning Hill is one of Singapore’s most historic landmarks. It was originally a cone-shaped mound that stood at a height of 48 metres above sea level. It was very likely that in the 14th century, the royal palace of ancient Malay rulers stood on the summit of this once “Forbidden Hill”. The memory of this was still alive that when the British arrived in 1819, the Malays refused to climb the hill, known as Bukit Larangan in Malay, saying that it was forbidden without the permission of the ancient rulers. In Southeast Asian cultures, hills and mountains were associated with supernatural and divine powers. Major General William Farquhar, the first resident and commandant of Singapore ascended the hill with the Malaccan Malays in 1819, since the locals were unwilling to climb, and atop the hill he fired a salute and erected a pole from which the Union Jack was flown. The hill was renamed Government Hill. Sir Stamford Raffles established a bungalow here, which became a residence for go...